Cemetery at Kenadsa, Algeria

Kenadsa, Algeria

Alongside a desert ridge close to the Moroccan border sits a field of black stones where children from the town of Kenadsa like to play. Mixed in the amongst dark stones, however, can be found shards with Hebrew writing - clues to the site's origins as a Jewish cemetery. In one case, a tombstone from over 350 years ago was uncovered here. According to researcher Jacob Oliel, the very name of the town itself may have Hebrew origins, as Jews were the founders of the town centuries ago and "Kenadsa" may be a derivation of "Knesset," the Hebrew word for synagogue. The Jewish community left about a century ago to move 10 miles east to the French administrative center of Colomb-Bechar. Known for its charcoal mines, the town also was the site of a Vichy internment camp for Jews and other prisoners during World War II.

Description

After the Jewish empire in Taout (with its capital Tamentit) was sacked in 1492, some of the surviving refugees headed up the Sahoura valley and settled in Kenadsa. In fact, Passover haggadot for the Kenadsa community replaced the line "Next year in Jerusalem" with "Next year in Tamentit." Such was the devotion to maintaining the memory of the destroyed Jewish empire to the south.

Culturally the community was similar to the Tafilalet traditions of southwestern Morocco, including the Judeo-Arabic dialect spoken and holiday traditions. Indeed, while the French rulers placed Kenadsa on the Algerian side of the border, the town was culturally closer to Morocco. Common family names include Amar, Benchetrit, Benharoch, Benichou, Benitah, Amar, Teboul, Drai, and Chekroun. The women of the community were known for their distinctive clothing, particularly their unique headdresses.

The south-eastern part of the old town of Kenadsa is still referred to as the "mellah" (i.e., Jewish quarter) or "darb lihoud" ("the street of the Jews"). The quarter's original name was "Bizane," drawn from the Tamazight (Berber) words "bu izzan" meaning "quarter of the flies." The name likely came from the tanneries in the quarter run by Tamazight-speaking Jews. According to visitors' accounts, the quarter was quite dirty.

In the early 20th Century the Jewish community left to settle in the new French garrison town of Colomb-Bechar formed nearby. They built their own synagogue in Bechar named "Rab," after a famous rabbi from Tamentit Shlomo Bar Beroro. A few decades later, an ancient Jewish cemetery was discovered in Kenadsa along the hillside ridge known as the Barga that runs all the way to Colomb-Bechar. A tombstone for Rabbi Shlomo Amar dates from over 350 years ago, and the style of Hebrew writing resembles those from Tamentit and other Saoura Valley